Understanding Cato
by Jeziabella
Summary: We all know Cato from the Hunger Games and how he's vicious and brutal and sadistic. But what if there's more to his story than we thought? What if Cato has a secret he's afraid to tell?
1. Prologue

**Hi this is my first fanfiction. I do not own the Hunger Games, if I did I would not be posting this. This chapter is just the prologue so it's not very long. Sorry if it's disapointing the real chapters will be much longer. Hope you like this. This kind of just sets the story up.**

Prologue

My name is Cato Hunters. I live in District 2. All my life I've been told that winning is everything. When I was of age, my parents enrolled me in the District's Hunger Games Academy, where I would learn to survive the Hunger Games. There, I met Clove, a simple brunette with a sinister physique. To be honest, being only five years old, I was kind of scared of her. Over time we came to understand one another.

She told me about her family as I told mine. The first day Clove's parents met mine, was a day I'll never forget. Clove and I had just turned 6. Clove's family loves to show off, as does mine. Her mother, Lourdes, was wearing a beautiful silk dress that fell to her heels.

It's clear as day that Clove inherited everything from her mom, whereas I inherited everything from my father. Her father, you can tell he's the one Clove inherited her sinister physique from. Our fathers obviously bonded. Our mothers bonded over fashion and clothing and all that girly stuff. Clove and I had gone up to my room to do whatever. I showed her all of my swords my father gave me. She seemed pretty impressed, which gave me confidence. We sat down on my bed and talked. We probably burned through about a thousand different topics.

Although there was one topic we kept coming back to. Our futures. Clove said she would win the Hunger Games and find a suitable husband and have children of her own and train them to win the Hunger Games. She had her life all figured out already. When she asked me about mine, I hesitated. What did I want my future to be?


	2. 4 years later

1

4 years later…

I wake to the sound of my older sister Britannic pounding on my door. "Cato, wake up it's time to go to school!" she yells. I have an older sister named Britannic but we call her "Brit" whose 2 years older, a younger sister named Harmony whose 8, another younger sister named Maggie whose 4. Just my luck. All I wanted was one brother, but no, I ended up getting 3 sisters. Harmony and I share a room. We're actually pretty close.

However, Harmony doesn't understand the importance of winning the Hunger Games. She wants the world to be at peace, which FYI, will never happen. If only I could get her to see that this is what our District is best at. There's no time for weakness. Not only that but, in a world where children have to fight to the death, there's no time for peace. President Snow's idea of peace is murder. I put on my shoes and head to school. At least Clove will be there. Ever since that day when she asked me what I wanted my future to be, I've basically been lost. Isn't the Hunger Games my future? I have so many unanswered questions that have been haunting me since I was 6.

When I open the door to the academy, I see Clove already there. She's taken up a new hobby. Knife throwing. She's gotten pretty darn good at it for only being 10 years old. I guess out of the corner of her eye she sees me because the next thing I know, she's throwing one of her knives at me. "What was that for, Clove?" I yell. At first she looks surprised, for reasons I don't know. "Oh sorry, Cato," that's all she says. Today we will be learning how to best-kill your enemy. When everyone else arrives, our instructor, Mr. Ryves, has everyone form a neat single file line from shortest to tallest. Obviously, Clove and I end up on opposite ends. Oh I forgot to mention, my 10th birthday is arriving soon. I still have no clue as to what I could do. I'm so wound up in my thoughts, I don't realize Mr. Ryves call my name. "CATO!" He yells. I practically jump 7 feet in the air.

"Yes sir?" I ask cautiously. Mr. Ryves tells me to fight with a boy who looks weak.

"N-no," I stutter. Everyone, even Clove looks at me like I'm crazy. "I-I want to fight someone who's my size," I say. Mr. Ryves walks over to me in an intimidating way. "Boy, let me get one thing clear, in The Hunger Games if you show any weakness _any, _you will lose," he says. The rest of the class goes by in a haze. When my parents come, I panic, my father is ruthless. I can only imagine what my punishment will be. I see my teacher talking with my dad. My dad turns around and looks me in the eye. I'm dead. That's my only thought on the subject. My mother walks over to me and pulls my arm out. She throws me into the car and the three of us speed off. When we pull up at our house, my heart beat speeds up. My parents open the door.

My sisters' babysitter walks in front. My parents take care of her and she leaves. My father watches her go. When she leaves, he eerily turns towards me. My breathing is erratic. "Dad, I-" I'm cut off by him slapping me across the face, _hard_. Tears come rolling out even though I forbid them. I hear feet running downstairs. I turn around to see Harmony staring in fear. "Daddy, don't hit him!" she screams as he runs towards me. My feet won't move from their place and my dad tackles me to the ground and starts punching me in the face. I can hear Harmony screaming at him to stop, but he won't listen. It's not long before I feel a warm feeling across my face.

He raises his fist again, I shut my eyes and await for the pain, only it doesn't come. I open my eyes to see Harmony on top of my dad. "Dad, stop it, stop it, please. Whatever Cato did doesn't deserve this, please," Harmony pleads. My bond with Harmony is extremely strong. However our bond is no match for our dad. He pushes her off him and starts beating her up. "Dad, no, stop it, I can take it, hit me not her, dad please!" my words are no match for him. Harmony's face starts bleeding faster than mine did. At this point, I just screaming.

I jump on his back and put him in a headlock. However, he just throws me off and my head hits the wall. My vision is blurry as I can just make out my father's figure and Harmony's. Harmony is screaming at the top of her lungs. Then, the screaming stops. For a moment, I think my dad has stopped. I crawl over to her and against my better judgment I cry. There, lies my dead and bloody sister. "NO, NO! YOU MONSTER, YOU MONSTER, YOU KILLED HARMONY!" I scream.

At this point I am crying so much I could fill a lake. My face burns because of the tears running over my bloody cuts imprinted by my father. My mind refuses to believe that my little sister is gone. My father turns to me. His eyes are as cold as ever. "You see son, this is what will happen when you show weakness. This is what happens when you defy us," my father says.

He sends me to the bathroom to clean off. My father wants me to act as if nothing ever happened. I just witnessed my sister being murdered by our own father. Dinner is quick, no one has a word to say. After dinner my sisters and I are sent to our rooms for bed. I have my own bathroom so I take my time. I brush my teeth and brush my hair. I strip my clothes except for my boxers and crawl into bed. I hear the door opening and see my father approach me. "Son, I want you to know, your sister died because she was weak. She was too weak to defend herself, it was not your fault," he says. I feel tears leaking again.

"She was only 8," that was the last thing I said to him for the night. He leaves my room and I am left with my thoughts. My father's words keep playing in my mind. _'Son, I want you to know, your sister died because she was weak. She was too weak to defend herself. You see son, this is what happens when you defy us. This is what happens when you show weakness.'_ I understand my father. Show no sign of weakness.


End file.
